


The First Dance

by poorly_animated



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Dancing Lessons, Fluff, M/M, Non-Binary Kurapika, Sad and Happy, Short One Shot, The Kurta Clan Massacre (Hunter X Hunter), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trans Kurapika, Wedding Planning, real emo hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poorly_animated/pseuds/poorly_animated
Summary: Kurapika & Leorio are practicing the first dance for their wedding, and they’ve roped Gon and Killua in because it’s a traditional Kurtan ceremony
Relationships: Gon Freecs & Kurapika & Leorio Paladiknight & Killua Zoldyck, Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck, Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 3
Kudos: 84





	The First Dance

Kurapika had arranged an empty ballroom in a building the mafia used for minor events like a child’s birthday or printing auction catalogues. They were pacing in front of the enormous mirrors, not sure if they were ready to revisit the memories of peace with their clan. _The last Kurta wedding..._ Their eyes grew misty as they stared at their reflection. Leorio had asked about it twice, but Kurapika hadn’t been able to speak about it yet.

 _Elenia and Jora had been some of the only teenagers in the village, always seeming to tower over Kurapika. They shared a birthday, getting engaged the day they both turned nineteen. The whole clan had celebrated with a feast, every elder sniffling away their tears as they toasted the young couple. When Kurapika was 11, they got married on a bright, sunny day. The women of the village each handed a branch to the bride as she passed underneath the vines of the jungle. The groom was greeted by the same ritual from the men. Thickets in hand, the two met at the river and knelt to take a bowl of damp soil. The couple walked to a clearing carpeted in mushrooms, where they prayed for long lives together. They moved to a cave inhabited by a bear and asked to be blessed with a_ _family. Their final stop was the center of the village, where everyone had gathered for their first dance. Kurapika and the other children had been told more than they had seen, but they’d all snuck around to the clearings on dares. When the couple came in, the chattering stopped. Each child simply stared, mouths open, at two people who appeared to have been transformed. Elenia set down her bowl of soil first, and Jora laid his beside hers. They stepped back. When they turned to face each other, they held their_ _fistfuls of branches together above their heads, the two empty hands poised towards the ground. The branches clattered down. The couple danced, kicking up a loud storm of dust as they pushed and pulled each other deftly through the debris. While the rest of the town clapped and cheered, Kurapika had strained his eyes to watch the movements, fascinated by the synchronicity two people could share. They stopped as suddenly as they started, Jora spinning Elenia into his arms for a deep kiss. The dust began to settle as they stood there, panting. “It is done!” The village elder finally crowed. Everyone wept as they joined the dance. Kurapika’s mother had twirled them around and around right up to the moment they felt into their bed._

 _A year later, Kurapika found Jora and Elenia’s bodies in their small home, flung near the corpse of their newborn daughter. Six bloody eye sockets were all that remained of that day._

Kurapika felt their eyes burning scarlet before they saw them in the mirror. Rage boiled their throat as they seethed, trying to hold back tears. Everything in their body was telling them to scream, to kill, to wail. _Killing is so pointless. Those bastards must learn to feel as empty as I do. The things I’ve done... I am not worthy of avenging my clan. My entire life, gone because of greed. My entire life..._ The door slammed open as they shook their head. 

“HEY, Kurapika, you’re here early!” Leorio exclaimed, grinning as he rushed towards his fiancé with open arms. Halfway across the room he caught sight of Kurapika’s face in the mirror. He slowed down, simply placing his hand on their shoulder. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”

Kurapika’s body trembled as they turned to look at Leorio. “I—I can’t—“ They inhaled deeply, trying to dispel the anger choking their body. “I am... Elenia and Jora, they didn’t... I haven’t found...”

Leorio pulled them in for a hug, bending down to hold them as tightly as possible. He gently rubbed their back as they fought with their emotions. “It’s okay, Kurapika, I’m so sorry, you’ll find them, everyone would be so proud of you, I’m so sorry, you’re okay, you’re here now, I love you, you’re right here with me.” His fiancé nodded silently, eventually reaching out slowly to return the hug. Leorio clutched their small face and kissed the top of their head softly. “Are you still feeling up for this tonight? We can reschedule. We don’t have to do anything that upsets you. I love you.” 

Kurapika stood straight, rubbing away his tears with the heel of his palm. “No. I want to do this.”

“Okay. I do too. I’m excited to learn from you, Kurapika. If you change your mind, just let me know and I can make an excuse.” 

“Okay... Thank you, Leorio.” 

Their younger friends arrived about ten minutes later. Kurapika handed everyone a tunic he’d pulled from the neatly folded stack at the back of his closet, and each of them were silently stunned by the delicate embroidery. He cleared his throat. “Okay, so... the first part is only going to be Leorio and me, but you guys will join in with the same dance when we’re done. I’m, uh,” they blushed. “I’m still deciding on the music. But it starts like...” Leorio handed them the supplies from the side table, and they walked to the center of the room. Kurapika placed his bowl down, and Leorio followed suit. The blond quietly explained the next few steps, Gon clasping his hands excitedly when the branches clattered to the floor. Leorio picked up the steps easily. He was a surprisingly good dancer for his outrageous height, and he’d long been in tune with his fiancé’s every breath. Soon, they moved without speaking, scattering the branches across the polished wood as they held their eyes together. Leorio’s mouth fell slightly open as he watched Kurapika dance. _They’re so focused. They’re so beautiful. Kurapika._ His heart skipped a beat whenever their bodies meshed. Kurapika suddenly paused, holding Leorio’s hand up in the air. “Now would be the kiss,” they panted, “and we’d be married.” He smiled up at Leorio, completely awestruck by what had transpired. _I felt it. I felt what I saw in that dance so many years ago. Not quite its full power without the sanctity of its vows, but the seriousness of the commitment to such movements. My mother still had her wedding gown. When I asked about it, she showed me these movements. She loved me so much_ _more than I comprehended while I had her._ Tears welled up in their eyes. _This dance... it requires life energy. You have to work together, and it binds you. I can only imagine how my devotion to Leorio will grow when we perform it fully. Can I really think myself worthy of such sacred happiness? I wish... I wish my mother had been able to meet him. My father, too. They would’ve seen that there are outsiders to be trusted, who care about things other than money. Who take themselves seriously. Not... vicious thieves._ _Not murderers. Not—_ “Hey, Kurapika, hey! Stay here with me.” They blinked up at Leorio’s face.

  
“Hey, Kurapika, can you show us how to do that?” Gon called from the sidelines.

“Idiot!” Killua nudged him in the ribs. 

Kurapika turned to them, seeming to notice the pair for the first time. “Oh, Gon. Yes. Give me a second.” 

“Did you guys just use some kind of nen?” Gon asked, wincing at another nudge from his boyfriend.

The blonde blinked again.

“Yeah, I think so,” Leorio interjected. He was still smiling. “I think so.”  
  


Killua swallowed. “Uh, Kurapika, won’t we be married if we do the same dance?” 

Kurapika laughed, suddenly back to reality. “Oh! No, you don’t have to worry about that. You aren’t doing anything ceremonial, just jumping in once we’ve been married. It’s not...” Their soft smile faded. “We all danced when Elenia and Jora got married.”

Leorio placed his arm around his fiancé’s shoulders. “So you see, guys, you’ll have to help us show everyone else how to dance! Kurapika, how long do we dance for?” 

“Yeah, when’s dinner?” Killua asked gruffly, shaken by how emotional his friend looked while remembering the Kurta.

“Um.” They started. “Yes, we... I danced until my mother carried me home, but I think there was food around. Yes, I definitely had soda for the first time that night.” They sighed as a small smile crept across their face. “So, I suppose people dance as much as they please.”

“So... We keep the sticks on the ground, then?” Gon asked. He was bewildered, just staring down at the floor and thinking about how to dance without tripping. Leorio and Killua glared at him, but Kurapika just laughed again. “Yes, of course, that is a good point. Many parts of the ceremony rely on being in the jungle. But we’re... reworking it, right?” 

They looked up at their fiancé. “Oh! Yeah, hm. Whatever you want, Kurapika!” They frowned. “I’ll have to think about that.” 

“I think it seems fun,” Killua jumped in, dragging Gon through the sticks with him. Something about Kurapika’s rare vulnerability emboldened him, propelling his legs forwards as he tried to mimic a few of Kurapika’s movements. “This is it, right?” he called. 

“Actually, it’s... Not bad.” The blonde smiled. “But, here, watch me and Leorio again—the footwork is a bit more complex, see...”


End file.
